Sunday, January 27, 2008

The weather people predicted icy nastiness for Friday night. That meant no NAKG for me. The weather people were wrong. I am glad they were wrong, but I missed getting out to knit with everyone. I have a feeling I am not the only one who stayed in, so even if I had gone, I would have probably been knitting by myself.

We had a wonderful Saturday night with our daughter. We do not get to see the kids often enough. I hope her schedule works so that we are able to see her again this week. Whenever we do get to see her, she will have a new hat. When she expressed a desire for one, I grabbed Hats On! by Charlene Schurch. She did not find anything that caught her eye. She said she liked something plainer. I asked what color she would like. She was not looking for excitement in her color either, and decided that white would be best. I grabbed a ball of Woolease and IK Fall 2007. I flipped to the Snowball Hat. She likes it, but perhaps not the pompom atop it. I reached into the needle drawer, pulled out a circ, and cast on for the hat. After working the ribbing and a repeat or two, I tried it on her. It looked like it might work, but also thought about ripping it out and adding another sixteen stitches. As with all visits, this one was too short, but I kept plugging away at the hat. I followed the directions, and when I finished the decreases, the hat looked really small and had a ton of stitches left. I understood the need for the massive puffball on this hat. I did more decreases and ended up with a nice hat. It will not be for my daughter, though. Long gone are the days when this hat would have fit her. It was fine. I have another place where this wee hat could go. I weighed the finished hat and the remaining ball of yarn. I could make a new hat, and this time I would double the yarn as the pattern directed. This second hat is going to work for her, and I am so pleased. This means it is also time to plan a hat for her brother. I was nearly knocked over the other day when he asked when I was going to knit for him. I think it will be a plain, black hat with his name in Japanese worked in either red or white. I just need to find out which is his favorite way of having his name written in Japanese.

I had hoped to be able to show you my finished Shetland/Angora yarn today. However, it took somewhere around fortyleven washes to stop getting pink water. This means that it is just now beginning its drying. I think there are somewhere between 250-300 yards in the yarn that I finished. There is a possibility that NaSpiMoMo will extend into February, and I hope it happens. I would love to continue spinning more with everyone. Also, I happened upon a fiber de-stashing, and I picked up a bit more fiber. It was only about an additional twenty ounces, but that means the fiber box is probably going to be overflowing once more.

It is on that note that I make my way to an organizing task. It is a constant two steps forward, three steps back thing. Still, it will be worth it when I am able to get to the things I have and enjoy them without undertaking a major excavating expedition.

The weather people predicted icy nastiness for Friday night. That meant no NAKG for me. The weather people were wrong. I am glad they were wrong, but I missed getting out to knit with everyone. I have a feeling I am not the only one who stayed in, so even if I had gone, I would have probably been knitting by myself.

We had a wonderful Saturday night with our daughter. We do not get to see the kids often enough. I hope her schedule works so that we are able to see her again this week. Whenever we do get to see her, she will have a new hat. When she expressed a desire for one, I grabbed Hats On! by Charlene Schurch. She did not find anything that caught her eye. She said she liked something plainer. I asked what color she would like. She was not looking for excitement in her color either, and decided that white would be best. I grabbed a ball of Woolease and IK Fall 2007. I flipped to the Snowball Hat. She likes it, but perhaps not the pompom atop it. I reached into the needle drawer, pulled out a circ, and cast on for the hat. After working the ribbing and a repeat or two, I tried it on her. It looked like it might work, but also thought about ripping it out and adding another sixteen stitches. As with all visits, this one was too short, but I kept plugging away at the hat. I followed the directions, and when I finished the decreases, the hat looked really small and had a ton of stitches left. I understood the need for the massive puffball on this hat. I did more decreases and ended up with a nice hat. It will not be for my daughter, though. Long gone are the days when this hat would have fit her. It was fine. I have another place where this wee hat could go. I weighed the finished hat and the remaining ball of yarn. I could make a new hat, and this time I would double the yarn as the pattern directed. This second hat is going to work for her, and I am so pleased. This means it is also time to plan a hat for her brother. I was nearly knocked over the other day when he asked when I was going to knit for him. I think it will be a plain, black hat with his name in Japanese worked in either red or white. I just need to find out which is his favorite way of having his name written in Japanese.

I had hoped to be able to show you my finished Shetland/Angora yarn today. However, it took somewhere around fortyleven washes to stop getting pink water. This means that it is just now beginning its drying. I think there are somewhere between 250-300 yards in the yarn that I finished. There is a possibility that NaSpiMoMo will extend into February, and I hope it happens. I would love to continue spinning more with everyone. Also, I happened upon a fiber de-stashing, and I picked up a bit more fiber. It was only about an additional twenty ounces, but that means the fiber box is probably going to be overflowing once more.

It is on that note that I make my way to an organizing task. It is a constant two steps forward, three steps back thing. Still, it will be worth it when I am able to get to the things I have and enjoy them without undertaking a major excavating expedition.